Step 3. Advertise the position

You don’t necessarily have to advertise — but you do have to be careful about what you say if you do. A job ad must be accurate and non-discriminatory. That means you can’t use language that could be interpreted as seeking someone of a particular age, gender or race.

You should include:

any minimum qualifications, experience or requirements like a driver licence

whether it’s a full-time, part-time, permanent, fixed-term or casual position

any benefits like flexible hours, extra KiwiSaver payments or bonuses

the things that make your company a great place to work

how to apply.

You can’t state requirements for the role that would lead to discrimination, including anything related to a person’s:

physical appearance, e.g. hair colour or skin colour

gender

race

religion

age.

You can include an application form. Ask for a cover letter as well as a CV to get extra information about how responsibilities in previous roles relate to the job you’re looking to fill.

Case study

Weighing options

Kapil is the editor of Kiwi-hot, a culture magazine aimed at young Indian-New Zealanders. He wants to hire an Auckland sales manager and writes in the job description that he wants someone young and of Indian heritage.

Kapil sends it to a recruitment consultant, who says it needs to be rewritten — it’s illegal to advertise a job that discriminates by age or ethnicity.

The recruiter points Kapil to the Human Rights Commission’s A-Z pre-employment guidelines (external link) to rewrite his job ad. Had it been published without change, both Kapil and the recruiter could be liable for breaching the Human Rights Act and Employment Relations Act.

Where to place the ad

You have lots of options when it comes to where to advertise. Think about where the type of person you want to recruit is likely to look. Sometimes targeting a niche website or publication can be more effective (and cheaper) than casting your net wide.

You can:

use a recruitment agency – it’s expensive up front, but can save you lots of time and effort

Once you’ve reviewed the applications and chosen your shortlist, decide if you’ll interview them with:

a one-on-one discussion

an interview panel

a written project or examination, or

a skills testing service.

Create a list of questions — try to keep them concise and open-ended, so that the interviewee can give a detailed answer instead of just saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

You can’t ask questions in an interview that aren’t relevant to the role, or that could lead to discrimination, like:

whether someone has children, or is planning to have children

how old the applicant is

whether they are religious.

Make sure you’ve prepared answers on:

the post-interview process

the likely range of employment conditions, including salary.

Disclosing information about a job applicant to anyone, even by accident, is a breach of the Privacy Act.

Contacting referees

Referees can give you great information that you might not learn during an interview.

Under the Privacy Act, you can only contact people applicants have specifically authorised you to speak to as referees. If they haven’t named someone you want to talk to, like a past employer, you can’t contact them unless you get permission first.